Re: Death Sentence for the Hubble?

From: Jeff Findley (jeff.findley_at_ugs.nojunk.com)
Date: 03/22/05 

Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2005 13:55:45 -0500

"Eric Chomko" <echomko_at_@polaris.umuc.edu> wrote in message
news:d1pm8o$1ldl$4@news.ums.edu...
> Jeff Findley (jeff.findley@ugs.nojunk.com) wrote:
> : Why do you say we are at an impasse? We don't *have* to let the
government
> : design and build our luanch vehicles. They don't design and build
passenger
> : jet aircraft, so why should they be allowed to design and build launch
> : vehicles?
>
> Okay, we stop the government from building manned spacecraft, then what?

Instead of spending billions of dollars on the shuttle program, we offer a
government funded orbital Y-Prize of $1 billion. Rules similar to the
original X-Prize. Base assumptions are that the craft must be manned and
reusable. To win the prize, you have to fly two manned flights to LEO
(minimum of two orbits each flight) within one month of each other.

One more thing. No government funding of the craft is allowed.

Then we stand back and watch, just as we did with the X-Prize.

Following that X-Prize, you offer a Z-Prize of another $1 billion for the
first private craft to successfully dock with ISS.

Even before the Z-Prize is won, you offer a government contract for the
transportation of people and cargo to ISS. The fee for these flights are
payable upon successful completion of each mission. You guarantee a minimum
of 6 successful flight fees per year to ISS for each company that can
provide this service, with up to a maximum of three launch companies
(minimum 18 flights per year).

Certainly this isn't the most thought through plan, but you get the general
picture. You stimulate the development of a private craft through prizes
and the guarantee of contracts that will provide these companies with a
steady income once they have developed a craft that does something "useful".
I'd argue that getting people and cargo to/from ISS is as good as the
historical example of the US government paying private companies to deliver
air mail.

Jeff 

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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Death Sentence for the Hubble?
    ... design and build our luanch vehicles. ... > Okay, we stop the government from building manned spacecraft, then what? ... you have to fly two manned flights to LEO ... No government funding of the craft is allowed. ...
    (sci.astro)
  • Re: Death Sentence for the Hubble?
    ... :>: design and build our luanch vehicles. ... :> Okay, we stop the government from building manned spacecraft, then what? ... To win the prize, you have to fly two manned flights to LEO ...
    (sci.astro)
  • Re: Death Sentence for the Hubble?
    ... :>: design and build our luanch vehicles. ... :> Okay, we stop the government from building manned spacecraft, then what? ... To win the prize, you have to fly two manned flights to LEO ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Death Sentence for the Hubble?
    ... :>: cargo containers flying on the same types of cargo aircraft. ... :> forced the modular design and the phone equipment monopoly soon went away. ... The best thing the US government did for telecommunications was to ... deregulate the phone industry and allow it to operate as a capitolistic ...
    (sci.astro)
  • Re: Death Sentence for the Hubble?
    ... :>: cargo containers flying on the same types of cargo aircraft. ... :> forced the modular design and the phone equipment monopoly soon went away. ... The best thing the US government did for telecommunications was to ... deregulate the phone industry and allow it to operate as a capitolistic ...
    (sci.space.policy)